My E60 M5 Got New CA Arts Plates!

"M.T. Blake" (autohabit) 12/09/2019 at 23:30 • Filed to: license plate, e60 m5, bmw, m5, e60, ca plates, ca arts, arts plates, doug demuro, doug, demuro

4

10

So much for getting a slightly vulgar three letter plate! They’ve run out! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! He was lucky to get KEG in his... I was a little too late... I hoped for BUM, IRK, RUB, or WEE, but I got something completely different.

The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! have been available since 1993, which feels like an automotive eternity . The artist who created the image titled it “Coastline”, an appropriate name for such a pretty art-deco beach scene.

The CA Arts plates, if ordered without custom digits, would be assigned with a three letter/three number configuration (Ex: 123 ABC). The three letters used were those that California thought were too offensive to issue back in the 1950s and 1960s. That’s why Doug Demuro has KEG in his Ford GT plate, or why you’ll see all sorts of odd words, abbreviations, or letters that look close to a word.

I wonder when we will see a new stand plate design?

These are by far the best looking plates offered in the golden state. I’ve got the 1960s black and yellow plates, the Yosemite plate is a close third, followed by the Tahoe plate. But it’s the palms, ocean, and sunset, that take the cake for me. What else could you want for a California plate?!

The bright colors and scene are a great homage to the 1980s California Sunset plates, which were the shortest production (modern) plates. Infact, fun fact, the Sunset plates were on the ‘Back to the Future’ Delorean with “OUTATIME” as the license. That is meteoric cool...

If you’ve always wanted a Sunset plate, these are as close as you can get. Granted, you could buy a car with its original Sunset plates, but what do you really want from around 1984 to 1987?

I really wanted to get some ridiculous or unusual three letter plate, but they’ve apparently run out. I was too late to the game to get an offensive word. At least I know now... and so do you! You’ll have to pick your sightly offensive license plate now.

You better be creative, as the state is pretty good at rejecting anything appearing offensive. I have no idea how BUKKAKE slipped though the cracks... saw that one in San Francisco years ago.

Sidenote: A megacab fits in my garage! WIN for the team!

If you’re a plate nerd like me, there is a great article from OTAKU OBSESSION about the different CA Plates - !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

fintail > M.T. Blake 12/09/2019 at 23:36

1

“FO” is still funny, I know I’ve said it more than a couple times.

Nice plate, I’ve always loved the sunset plate, and I can think of a number of 84-86 cars that would be perfect for it and cars I also wouldn’t kick out of my garage . I too am a plate geek of sorts, to the point where I try to figure out date of issue by the plate number (Brits and some others have it easy there).

Nom De Plume > M.T. Blake 12/09/2019 at 23:40

1

BMW with a whale tail (plate) has an oddly satisfying ring to it.

M.T. Blake > fintail 12/09/2019 at 23:54

1

How is ‘Figure Out’ a funny term? *giggity*

Yes, a 1986 Toyota Corolla GTS. :D

M.T. Blake > Nom De Plume 12/09/2019 at 23:55

1

More appropriate on a Porsche.

fintail > M.T. Blake 12/10/2019 at 00:11

1

That’s exactly what it means :)

I can think of any number of mid 80s MBs, Porsches, BMWs, Ferraris, Lambos, and others that suit those plates well. It might be rose tinted glasses.

Officer Jim Lahey is not a real cop > M.T. Blake 12/10/2019 at 01:02

1

My wife’s old e90 arts plates had “JUG.” She  got tired of the jokes and switched to normal plates. :-(

functionoverfashion > M.T. Blake 12/10/2019 at 09:06

1

I’ve been collecting plates (slowly) since I was pretty young. I love a good plate design, or interesting number/letter combo. Currently we’ve got a low-digit plate on my DD because of my wife’s connections to state government.

But in the spirit of ignoring the content of your post to ask about the background of a picture... what truck is that? 

M.T. Blake > functionoverfashion 12/10/2019 at 13:48

0

I was working on my buddies 06 Cummins. It’s had the full shebang done to it. Carli suspension, ARB lockers front and rear, warn hubs, Banks everything. 

functionoverfashion > M.T. Blake 12/11/2019 at 09:47

1

Wow, so... it’s probably worth a couple bucks based on your other series of posts... 

M.T. Blake > functionoverfashion 12/11/2019 at 15:16

1

One of the few 3rd gen trucks I would pay $35,000. If he were selling I’d tell him to list at $40,000. It has 85k-miles on it.

The bill for all the suspension and drivetrain mods was $25k.